If You're Waiting For A Sign, This Is It
by Konzelwoman
Summary: College Everlark, American Sign Language, and comedy.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I have a bit more planned for this, but it was already so long, so there may be a second, possibly third, installment. And I apologize for any typos. All signing is in italics. If they speak and sign, it is only in quotations, no italics.  
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X-X-X

What had she gotten herself into?

Katniss sat frustrated at her desk as she watched the PowerPoint flick by showing the different signs and their meanings, while the teacher demonstrated, and had them repeat it back to him.

Katniss was only taking American Sign Language because it counted as a humanities credit. That and Johanna had dragged her in on grounds of wanting to know one person in the class. Johanna. That was _really_ why she was here.

Johanna had met a guy she really liked, but he was deaf, so she wanted to learn sign language to at least be able to speak with him as friends.

What was most frustrating to Katniss was that their teacher was actually deaf. He could hear a little bit, thanks to hearing aids, but not enough for you to verbally ask questions. You either had to sign them or write them down. He was born hearing, but due to complications with chicken pox as a baby, he lost his hearing.

And he could hear enough to know if anyone made a sound, so if you talked while signing, he would take points off of your final grade.

It wasn't that bad of a class, and Mr. Beetee was actually really cool, but Katniss hated sitting still in silence for this long.

Plus, it was hard for her to concentrate when they had to partner up and follow a written dialogue. Johanna had quickly decided to partner up with another classmate, someone named Finnick, making Katniss wonder why Johanna had dragged her here in the first place.

But Katniss, not wanting to choose anyone, waited to be approached, and, as luck would have it, the guy who lived in the same apartment complex as her asked if she would be his partner.

The same guy she watched jog by every morning as she drank coffee on the balcony. The same guy who smiled at her as he ran by, making her scowl. The same guy who despite her scowl made her stomach do flip flops with his blonde curly hair, lopsided smile, and bright blue eyes that were always so clear even from her second story balcony.

The. Same. Guy.

Great.

She looked down at her notebook, checking her class schedule, when a finger tapped her desk.

Snapping her head up, she saw that guy, Peeta his name was, pointing to the teacher who was staring at her, making her blush.

_Sorry_, she signed, mouthing it silently along with her hand movment.

Peeta was smiling at her as the rest of the class chuckled, but his smile wasn't chiding like the laughter, more like he had a secret or was just looking at something pretty.

Katniss shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Mr. Beetee wrote on the board that there would be a study group in the library that night.

As they were dismissed, Peeta stood and turned to her from his seat in front of her.

_Hey_, he signed.

She smiled, signing back, _Hey to you, too._

He chuckled. _What is your next class?_

_Kinesiology. _

_Me, too!_

_With Mr. Abernathy?_

_Yup!_

_Really? I don't remember seeing you there. _

_I always see you there. You're the one who doesn't pay attention. _

Katniss scoffed. What he said would usually creep her out, but for some reason, coming from him, made her blush. She threw her backpack over her shoulder, holding her book for the next class tightly to her chest as she followed Peeta from the room.

Once in the hallway, they both turned toward the elevators.

"You going to the study group?"

She felt like her stomach was training for the Olympics, rolling and tumbling at the sound of his voice. She realized she had not heard it until now, between signing in class and observing him jog. Thank goodness this wasn't a debate class, otherwise anything that came out of his mouth she would agree with, despite her side of the debate.

"Um, yeah. I think so. I need it."

He smiled. "Yeah, I think I'll go, too."

After a moment he added, "By the way, I've never heard your voice before, but it's beautiful. It's like a song."

Katniss snorted, making his grin only grow. "Okay. That snort wasn't so melodic, but I swear, whenever you talk, even the birds stop and listen."

Katniss started to laugh so hard, she bent over, clutching her stomach.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"This is what nothing looks like for you? I'd like to see you laugh at something that's actually funny."

Katniss only laughed harder, reaching out to shove him playfully, but it failed as she laughed so hard no sound came out.

Stopping to catch her breath, she panted, "No, nothing, it's just, I'm not that good at making friends and one of the first ones I'm making tells me I'm the bird queen or something."

"It's half way through the semester. You haven't made any friends?"

"Told you I wasn't any good at it."

"Well, you are making an excellent choice with moi."

After getting on the elevator and exiting on the ground floor, Peeta piped up, "Bird queen. I don't like the sound of that. It's too…"

"Too what?"

"Pigeon lady at the park."

Katniss snorted once again.

"I think…. Mockingjay is a good nickname for you."

"From that book series?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay. Whatever."

"She has one other nickname of sorts in the book, and it fits you, but I don't think you'd like it. People would take it out of context and think I'm making some reference to a past romantic encounter or something."

"Which one?"

"The Girl on Fire."

X-X-X

At the study group, Mr. Beetee was drawing names to be leaders of the groups.

_K-A-T-N-I-S-S E-V-E-R-D-E-E-N_, he spelled out.

Katniss gulped.

Peeta scrawled something on a piece of paper and slid it over to her.

Katniss snorted softly when she read it. "Our Leader The Mockingjay".

She looked up at Peeta with a scowl, which he only returned with a beaming, proud smile.

Katniss raised her hand, and Mr. Beetee nodded for her to go on.

Katniss signed very slowly, wanting to get it right. _I'm not comfortable being the leader. Can someone else do it? Or even, could we partner up with our partners from class?_

Mr. Beetee put it to a vote, and the class agreed that partners were easier.

As the night progressed, Katniss felt more and more at ease around Peeta, and they fell into an easy conversation in sign, surprising her at how much she remembered so fluidly.

They followed the standard questions on the piece of paper.

_What's your favorite color?_

Katniss blushed. _Green. What's your favorite color?_

_Orange. _

_Like that horrible leather couch over there?_

Peeta laughed. _No. More like a sunset._

_Awwwww_, Katniss signed teasingly.

_Shut up_, Peeta grinned back.

When they had to do numbers, Katniss had trouble forming her hand into the correct shape.

"May I?" Peeta whispered, gesturing to her hand.

"Uh, I guess," Katniss whispered back.

Peeta took her hand in his, helping her hand easily form the correct shape. His touch felt like electricity to her. She stared at his face, smiling at the way he stuck his tongue out in concentration, trying to mold her hand.

He met her gaze and they both froze, his hand holding hers, and goofy grins on both their faces.

He pulled his hand away, and she instantly missed it.

_There_, he signed.

_Thanks. _

_Don't mention it. _

_How do you know so much about sign?_

_I used to have a friend that was dating a girl who was deaf. He taught me basic stuff so we could all converse at parties and stuff._

_So why are you in this class?_

_I forgot over the years. He moved away and so did she, but they are here at school, so I figured I'd brush up. _

_Oh? Who?_

Peeta pointed over to Johanna and her partner.

_Him. F-I-N-N-I-C-K O-D-A-I-R._

_Why is he taking the class if he already knows?_

_He wants to learn correctly. When you learn from a friend, you learn their speech pattern, kind of like slang or an accent, so he wanted to learn the basics so he can communicate with more of her friends along the way. _

_That's really sweet. _

_Yeah, he's a good guy. That's his girlfriend over there._ He pointed to a beautiful girl sitting off to the side, behind Finnick, reading a book and earbuds in her ears.

_What's her name?_

_A-N-N-I-E C-R-E-S-T-A._

_Why does she have earbuds in?_

_Oh!_ Peeta chuckled. _She can feel the vibrations. _

_Really?_

_Yeah. Plus, she doesn't want people coming up to ask her questions and her having to sign she can't hear them._

_Is she embarrassed about it?_

_She used to be, since not many of our friends knew sign language, but now, she is just tired of getting hit on. _

Katniss snorted softly once again.

_I love your laugh._

Katniss rolled her eyes. _Whatever. _

Katniss noticed Annie signing to Finnick, something on her left hand sparkling as her hands moved quickly.

_Are they engaged?_

_Yeah. _

_And she is still getting hit on with that rock on her finger?_

_Yeah._

_Jerks. _

_Yes. Speaking of…._

Just then, an attractive, but jerky looking guy walked up to Annie, and began signing away.

Finnick walked over to him, forming his hand into the sign for the letter "p", placing his middle finger on the tip of his nose, then pulling away to his front into the sign for "f". He did it very quickly, and angrily.

"What does that sign mean?" Katniss whispered, not looking away from what appeared to be a sign off between the guy and Finnick.

Mimicking the sign as he spoke, Peeta whispered back, "Piss off."

"Who is that?"

"Cato. He is deaf like Annie, and thinks they should be dating instead of her and Finnick because Finnick is hearing."

"Oh."

Based on all she had read of the deaf culture in class, Katniss knew this was more common than one might think.

Mr. Beetee went over to them and added his frantic signing to the mix. Katniss was lost. Everything was so fast.

"What are they saying?"

"Well, from what I can catch, Mr. Beetee is telling Cato to leave the group alone, Cato is arguing that Annie is not in the group, Annie wants him to leave, and Finnick is just angry. He's making no sense. I don't…." Peeta scrunched up his face in confusion as he and Katniss watched Finnick flailing his hands. "I don't think that's even a sign."

"Not even slang?"

"Not even Klingon."

Katniss had to tuck her head to her chest to keep from laughing.

Cato threw his hands up in the air and stomped off, Mr. Beetee was patting Finnick's shoulder with a knowing look on his face before he returned to the group, and Finnick signed a thank you to him before sitting down beside a perturbed looking Annie, putting his arm around her shoulders and letting her lean into him.

"Can, uh, can we go talk to them?" Katniss asked, not taking her eyes off of Annie who looked like she could shoot lasers out of her eyes from sheer anger.

Peeta glanced over to Johanna and saw Mr. Beetee had partnered up with her. "Sure."

As they walked up Finnick immediately perked up and pointed at Katniss. "Hey! You're Katniss, right?"

"Yes," Katniss drew out the word.

Finnick smiled and turned to Peeta. "You're right. She is gorgeous."

Katniss was about to ask what 'you're right' meant, but Annie elbowed Finnick in the ribs before she could.

"Oh! I'm sorry." Finnick sat upright so he could use both hands to sign as he spoke. "This is my fiancé Annie. Annie, you remember Peeta, and this is Katniss."

Katniss also spoke as she signed. "Nice to meet you!"

Annie smiled. _Nice to meet you, too._ She then turned to Finnick with a glint in her eye and signed something Katniss didn't quite catch.

"What did she say?" She asked Peeta.

"Nothing."

Finnick chuckled. "She said, and I quote, 'Peeta was right. She is beautiful.'"

Katniss blushed. "Aw, thank you." Then turning to Peeta she whispered, "You talk about me? We didn't even talk out loud to one another until today."

Now Peeta blushed. "Yes. So? At least I'm owning up to it and not swatting it away. Having an eye for beauty isn't the same thing as a weakness… Except possibly when it comes to you."

Katniss opened her mouth to say something but was at a loss for words, and this just made Peeta smile even more.

So she changed the subject, once again signing as she spoke. "What were those signs you guys were using?"

"Which ones?" Finnick cocked his head to the side and raised his eye brows questioningly.

Katniss demonstrated as best she could.

"Oh!" Finnick sat up straight once again. "Those are our sign names. You know, you have to be given one by someone who is actually deaf, and not just someone who knows ASL."

"So what does each one mean?"

"Well," Finnick cleared his throat. "Mine is roughly 'Greek God'-"

"'Beautiful man'," Peeta corrected him.

Finnick glared at Peeta. "And Annie's is roughly 'Mermaid'-"

"She loves to swim."

Finnick glared at Peeta once again, waiting for Peeta to gesture him to continue.

"And Peeta's is the sign for 'water'."

"'Water'?" Katniss was very confused.

Annie chimed in. _Yes, because he speaks so beautifully, his words are like water to a plant. Never harsh, never mean, but cooling, and soothing._

Before Katniss could catch herself, she signed and said, "You should hear his voice. It makes it even more accurate. Actually, 'butter' would be more accurate for that."

After a pause of silence, the other three began to laugh.

"What?" Katniss asked. Then, with a mortified face, "Oh. I said that out loud, didn't I?"

Annie nodded with an 'I'm sorry' look on her face, as did Finnick and Peeta only with smiles instead of pity.

_You need a sign name._ Annie's face lit up.

_Me?_ Katniss pointed to herself.

_No, your imaginary friend beside you- Yes you!_

Finnick perked up as he signed and spoke excitedly. "Yeah! Come over tonight! We can all hang out and get to know one another before you get the name you will be stuck with for life."

"Great," Katniss said and signed before turning to Peeta with a scowl and whispered, "Do not suggest 'Mockingjay' or 'Pigeon lady' or I swear I will hurt you."

X-X-X


	2. Pt 2

That night Katniss' stomach was in knots. The whole day had been one giant first for her.

She made a friend, she had butterflies growing in her stomach, she had made more friends, a deaf friend, and was invited to go and spend time in her house. She was certain Annie would kick her out soon after arriving, growing tired of Katniss' meager signing skills.

Peeta was going to pick her up, given that they lived in the same complex and he knew where Finnick and Annie lived, "it only made sense" he argued.

Johanna had disappeared after the study group, and her hour of prep time before Peeta came to get her was almost up, so she scribbled a note telling Jo where she was and stuck it on the fridge with a random magnet on it's front. She smiled. It was a bird magnet. Mockingjay. She quickly scowled at the memory.

She jumped at the sound of knocking at the front door. She quickly ran over to it, hesitating above the handle, and then remembered they had a peep hole. She looked out to find a shivering, soaking wet Peeta.

She forgot what she was doing. All she could think about were those blue eyes, brilliantly blue against his wet hair plastered to his forehead and the dark grey of the weather outside…. Outside. It was raining. And cold. And Peeta was out there, outside her door, shivering. She should let him him.

"Katniss?" His voice was muffled through the door, but those butterflies didn't care. "It's uh, it's really cold and I forgot an umbrella, and it's pouring, and I really hope I am talking to the right door, and this isn't like some pigeon lady's apartment-"

She swung the door open, the best scowl she could muster on her face, only to see a beaming, but shivering Peeta.

She reached out and tugged a tuft of his hair.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"I said I would hurt you if you brought those names up again."

"What, 'pigeon lady'?" Tug. How infuriating. He only smiled bigger. "'Mockingjay'?" Tug. He laughed. "I was right. 'Girl on fire' suits you. You are extremely volatile when provoked." Tug.

"You have no idea."

Katniss turned around and walked back into her apartment, slowing when she realized she didn't hear Peeta's footsteps behind her, and turning to see him still shivering right outside her door.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?"

Her eyebrows knit together as she narrowed her eyes. "What, are you like a vampire or something?"

Peeta's puppy dog eyes and pouty face adopted a sinister, and admittedly somewhat creepy look. "Call me old fashioned, but my mother always told me to be asked into a home."

"Will I regret this?"

His eyes became even more sinister. "I don't know. Will you?"

After a short stare down, they both started laughing, and she waved him in, grinning as he shuffled in, his arms wrapped tightly around himself to keep warm, shivering and waddling, looking somewhat like a giant penguin.

She took his soaked coat from him, gave him a blanket, and threw the jacket in the dryer. Before pushing the button to start it, she peeked her head around the corner. "Hey, uh, anything else need to be thrown in here? Not to be weird or anything, but I noticed your pants are soaked. Well, so much for not being weird. And your shirt…." Why was he always smiling at her? "Yeah. The weird ship has sailed. Just give me all of your clothes-"

"All of them?" He smiled mischievously.

She glared as she continued, "that are wet and cover yourself with the blanket. I was going to offer you some clothes of Jo's past boyfriend that are still in a drawer in her room, but you lost your right when you pulled your little stunt just now."

"She keeps old boyfriend's clothes?" His hand appeared around the corner, holding a pair of jeans, some socks, and his shirt. She breathed a sigh of relief. No underwear.

"Yeah. She sniffs them on occasion. She doesn't think I notice."

After a pause, "….She sniffs them?"

"You make her sound like some serial killer or something. Yes, it was a bad breakup and she sniffs them because they smell like him."

"Oh." He pondered for a minute before walking around the corner, red fuzzy blanket wrapped around his shoulders, facing her before saying, "And what do I smell like?"

Katniss took a second too long to respond. "What?" She scoffed.

He grinned that infuriating grin. "I could hear you sniff my clothes before throwing them in."

"I did not!"

Peeta leaned his face down into the blanket and made an obnoxious sniffing sound, and despite her best efforts, Katniss snorted.

"Okay, okay. Dill. And cinnamon. And…."

Peeta was loving every second of this, and milked it for all it was worth. "Go on."

"Rain." Her voice was quiet.

"Rain," he repeated, equally as subdued.

"It was raining the day we found out."

Peeta grew instantly serious, and to her surprise, calming. "Found out what?"

Katniss worried her bottom lip as she debated whether to tell him. "I'm not just taking this class for Jo."

"You're not? What do you mean?"

"I, uh, it's kinda personal and hard…."

"You're not going deaf, are you?"

"No!"

"Good." Peeta seemed extremely relived.

"Why?"

"Because. I'm just getting used to your voice, and I would miss it."

Katniss smiled as a tear slipped down her cheek, quickly wiping it away as she stared at the wall behind Peeta. "No, I'm not going deaf. But my little sister Prim is."

If she had been watching a movie, and Peeta was the leading man, she would have given him an Oscar for the face he made after hearing what she said. It wasn't pity, it wasn't judgment. It was genuine, pure heartbreak. Empathy. For someone he did not even know.

She told herself not to do something stupid, like cry, but one look at the tears brimming in his own eyes and she felt herself break. She started to crumple to her knees, her body wracking with sobs, leaning against the front of the dryer, hoping it's heat and rocking motion would rock her sorrow into oblivion.

But soon it was not only heat to her back, but to her front. Through her tears she could see a mop of blonde hair obscuring her view. She realized that Peeta was holding her, wrapped inside the blanket with him, forming a cocoon of sorts.

She should have felt embarrassment, or been freaked out that someone she had known for half a semester but had only spoken to that day was in her apartment, holding her against himself as tightly as possible, in nothing but his underwear, wrapped tightly in a blanket, crying with her.

But she only felt one thing. Safe.

They stayed like that, even after both had stopped crying, loosing track of time, until the buzzer on the dryer went off and they both jumped, startled.

They looked up into one another's eyes and slowly stood up in unison, Katniss turning to open the dryer, Peeta closing the blanket back around himself.

As she unloaded the clothes, she found herself talking, saying something she hadn't shared with anyone yet. "I know you have to be given a sign name by someone who is deaf, but Prim already gave me one, since she is going to be soon. We wanted to establish some things while she still has hearing so it'll be a little easier of a transition. If anything, it'll be my nickname to her. Since I call her, 'Little Duck'."

Peeta took the clothes she offered him over her shoulder as she stared into the empty dryer. "And what was it?" His voice was soft.

Katniss smiled a sad smile as she remembered. "She was so distraught. She was sobbing one night, and I went into her room, holding her until she stopped. I assured her everything would be okay. She told me she had had a nightmare where she was deaf, and no one understood her sign, and for some reason, she couldn't write or speak, so she couldn't communicate with anyone. So I let go of her, and used what little sign I knew. I spoke while I did it, but I signed, 'Little Duck, you will be okay. I love you. You are so strong. Do not be afraid.' And she blew me away with her response. She singed and spoke, 'You have always taught me to never be afraid. And so I won't be. You take away my fear and you give me hope.'"

She turned back to face Peeta, catching him wiping a tear from his cheek. "So what name did she give you?"

Katniss signed it as she said it. "Hope."


	3. Pt 3

Despite the somber turn of events, Peeta and Katniss left the apartment the same way Peeta had come in. Laughing. Only this time, Katniss had an umbrella.

After she locked the door and they walked down the one flight of stairs, Katniss unhooked the umbrella from where she had put it over her forearm, only to have Peeta put his hand on it. She looked at him questioningly.

He pointed up to the sky with his other hand. "Look."

Following the invisible line between the tip of his finger and the sky, Katniss softly gasped when she saw a rainbow against the dark grey storm clouds. The rain had stopped, but you could still smell it in the breeze, thunder rolling in the distance, and lightning still in the clouds making the rainbow even more magnificent.

"Now I know what Pocahontas really meant," Katniss mumbled.

"What?" Peeta seemed intrigued.

"'Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?'" She took a deep breath as a small gust of wind came by, closing her eyes, and enjoying the smell of rain. Of being washed clean. Fresh.

"She was right."

Katniss opened her eyes and looked back to Peeta, that infuriating smile once again on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Your sister. Her name for you. Hope. It radiates from you."

Katniss smiled. "All because I quoted Disney?"

"All because…. Because you have no idea the effect you can have."

Katniss dug the toe of her boots into the grass beneath her, dug her hands deep into her coat pockets, and ducked her face into her scarf to hide her blush. "I see someone else living up to their sign name, Mr. Water."

She laughed when Peeta mimicked her in a ridiculous voice.

Peeta pointed back up to the sky. "Look! Your favorite color!"

Katniss pointed as well. "Look! _Your_ favorite color!"

They both laughed when suddenly a loud clap of thunder boomed, Katniss startling, and finding herself once again wrapped up in Peeta's arms. She looked back up just in time to see lightning behind the rainbow. "You see that electric blue?"

"Yeah," Peeta's voice was so close and soft she wasn't sure if she was shivering from just the cold anymore.

She looked back to see him looking right at her. "That's the color of your eyes."

"You see the color of the clouds?" He didn't miss a beat.

"Yeah," Katniss voice was softer than intended.

"That's the color of _your_ eyes."

They were nose to nose now, staring each other in the eye. Katniss snorted.

"What?" Peeta chuckled, pulling away a little to see her face.

"You looked like you only had one eye. Sorry. I'm very mature for my age, really, I swear."

"You see that color?" He asked.

She looked up again. "Which one."

"Violet."

"Yes, I see purple, Mr. Water."

"That's the color of your laugh."

"My snort is the color of Barney?"

Peeta let go of her and backed away, his head thrown back and hands to his stomach as he laughed. "You are right. Very mature."

Katniss stuck her tongue out at him. To which he did it right back.

"Come on. I've got to get you to their place before it starts to pour again."

"You're right. This is no place for a girl on fire."

"But the perfect place to be thrown burnt bread."

They both chuckled at the references that started this whole day.

"You know," Peeta started once they were in the car, "I feel like I've known you forever."

"Yeah. I know. It's… Odd."

"Well, may the odds be ever in your favor."

"The odds are never in our favor."

He smiled. "Well, just stay alive." He laughed as Katniss moaned at the reference.

"Perhaps we knew each other in another lifetime," he mused as he backed the car out of the spot.

"Maybe. But I know I could live a hundred lifetimes and still not deserve someone like you. Even as a friend."

"So we're friends now?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, smiling again. "It's official?"

"Just don't go updating your social media status."

He chuckled. "Okay."

He turned a few corners, went over a few speed bumps then asked, "If you are the girl on fire, then who am I from the series?"

Katniss knew what she wanted to say. It was a reference she had had in her mind from the moment he called her Mockingjay. But she needed Annie's help first. "That's a discussion for another time."

They pulled up into a spot in the building across from hers. "Why are we back here? Why are we stopping here?"

"Good friends are closer than you think."

"Yeah, 25 feet to be exact." Katniss scoffed. They were in building 4, or "district 4" as the complex called it. And she lived in 12. Somehow, through poor grounds planning, or fate, they were directly across from each other.

Peeta turned the ignition off. "We're not the only one's who live in Victor's Village, you know."

"Victor's Villas," she corrected him.

"Oh, I know."

"References?"

"References." His smile was smug.

"I hate you sometimes."

"In the whole less than twenty four hours we have spoken?" He was taunting now.

"Just, stay with me, please? Like, don't abandon me with Annie while you and Finnick go to the man cave or something. I need your help signing."

"Nah. You don't need me."

"I do. I do need you."

The thunder rolled in the distance again. "Please stay with me."

Peeta once again had that look that he had had right after finding out about Prim. Genuine. Genuinely happy. "Always."


	4. Chapter 4

Katniss walked up to the door, Peeta following closely behind her. When she didn't move, Peeta asked what was wrong.

She turned to him sheepishly, blushing. "Um, what do I do? If I knock or ring the door bell, Annie can't hear it. But Finnick can. That would be a hearing thing to do. What do I do?"

"Just be you."

She grimaced at him and he laughed.

Knocking on the door lightly, Peeta laughed. "Even Finnick wouldn't hear that."

Scowling, she kept her eyes on him and went to knock again, this time determined for it to be louder, only to hear the door open right before her hand made impact, and Finnick cry out in pain.

"Arrrgh!"

Katniss stilled her hand. Peeta was trying very hard not to laugh.

Slowly she turned to see Finnick glowering at her, a hand over one of his eyes.

"Sorry?" She tried, signing as she spoke.

Finnick reached out with his free hand, painstakingly slow, and lightly rapped it on her forehead. "Yeah, yeah. You're something else, Everdeen." He couldn't sign with only one hand, so Peeta signed what he said to Annie who stood behind Finnick, making her laugh.

"Can we still come in?" Katniss asks timidly.

"I guess," Finnick said in a mock pout, stepping to the side to let them in.

Annie embraced Katniss immediately, and Katniss was surprised she hugged her back.

_I've missed you!_

"It's only been a few hours!" Katniss spoke as she signed for the benefit of the hearing around her.

_So what? I'm not allowed to miss my friend?_

"I'm your friend?"

Annie made a "duh" face so overly dramatic that Katniss laughed. _Finnick was right. You are something else, Everdeen._ But her genuine smile as she spelled out her last name told Katniss she was playing.

Looking around she saw several other faces, none that she recognized.

Finnick walked back into the room with a bag of frozen peas held against his eye and shook his head at her as he walked by.

"Let me introduce you, I guess," he huffed, but both he and Katniss smiled. He asked Annie to sign for him so their guests knew what was going on.

_So they're all deaf?_ Katniss thought as she looked at the smiling faces.

Pointing to the person closest to her, Finnick said, "This is Gale Hawthorne, Annie's friend."

Gale turned to her and held out his hand to shake. _Nice to meet you,_ he signed quickly after, smiling a wide smile, which only grew when Katniss returned the sign.

Pointing to the next person, Finnick introduced him as Pollux. Pollux waved a small, shy smile and signed _nice to meet you._

Before Finnick could continue, the last person surprised her by speaking while he signed. "Hi! I'm Castor, Pollux's brother. He was born mute, so he can hear you, just can't answer."

Katniss smiled. "Thank you. That is very interesting. And your names, aren't they-"

Pollux smiled but covered his face as he nodded.

"Yes," Castor laughed. "Our parents were hippies."

Katniss laughed. "Hey! It's okay. I'm not judging. My name is Katniss, and my little sister is named Primrose, so I know the feeling."

_You have a sister?!_ Annie was very excited.

_Crap._ She had let that cat out of the bag. "Yes." She struggled a smile.

_Oooo! Tell me all about her, please! I always wanted siblings!_

Before Katniss could answer, there was a knock at the door. Annie looked at it, confused.

"How'd you know?" Katniss asked.

_The vibrations._

Katniss nodded as Annie went to answer the door, and looked back at the group just in time to see Pollux sign, _She's beautiful! You think?_ to which Castor smiled and signed, _Yes_, making her blush.

She caught Finnick's eye and knew he had seen it, too. His smile was unsettlingly large.

Looking back over at the door, she saw that Gale had joined Annie, also curious who it was. Waking over to where Peeta was leaning against the bar of the kitchen counter, they had a perfect view of who was outside the door when Annie opened it.

And then slammed it.

Cato and Jo. So _that's_ who she was wanting to talk to.

Gale opened the door and stalked outside, Johanna slipping past before it was slammed again.

She walked right up to Katniss and started signing and speaking a mile a minute. "Brainless! Oh, thank God you're here!"

"Yes, yes I am. The question is why are _you_ here?"

"I met Cato today in the library and he asked me out to coffee this evening. I said sure. But instead of going to the coffee shop, he took me here. I had no idea! And Gale is here!"

"Wait. You know Gale?"

"Yeah! He's the guy I wanted to talk to, but he never seemed very interested, so I said yes when Cato asked."

Finnick waked over and swung the door open to see Cato and Gale signing away. Katniss was surprised they didn't hover above the ground the way they were flapping their arms in exasperation. That was most of the conversation, actually. Each one flailing their arms in large _why_s and _stupid_s thrown in sporadically.

They were going so fast, that was all Katniss could make out.

Finnick shut the door after seconds, the bag of peas still held to his face. "Just let them get it out."

"Hi, I'm Peeta," Peeta offered his hand to Jo, who looked at him with a hungry look that made Katniss defensive.

"Hi, I'm Johanna."

Peeta seemed uncomfortable under her stare, so Katniss stepped between them. "Jo. No. You already have two boys outside. Go fix your mess before you break something of mine."

Jo huffed and went outside, slamming the door for the third time behind her.

Peeta tapped her shoulder, causing her to realize what she had said.

_Something of mine_ echoed around her head, especially the last word.

She turned to him, finding a smirk on his face. "So I'm yours, huh?"

"Would you rather be Jo's?"

"Don't scare me like that."

Katniss snorted as Peeta grinned in triumph when Finnick walked up, no pea bag this time, but a beautiful shiner starting to form.

"I am so sorry, Finnick. I was trying to knock louder and you have really bad timing."

Finnick shrugged. "Eh, it's alright. I'll live." He turned to Peeta. "Don't ever make her mad. She packs a mean punch." Both men chuckled while Katniss scowled. "And that is just downright frightening," he continued, pointing at her scowl, causing it to deepen and his grin to grow. "So, KE-"

"'KE'?" She questioned.

"Easier to spell your initials than your whole name until you get a sign name."

She nodded.

"So, KE, any secrets worth my time to sign?"

"Katniss!" They heard Johanna yell through the door.

In two strides Finnick was at the door and swinging it open to Jo covering her mouth with both hands and Gale punching Cato right in the eye, signing a quick, _Piss off_, when Cato looked up at him dumbfounded.

Gale grabbed Johanna's elbow and pulled her inside, softly closing the door behind him, and looking around to be greeted by dumbstruck faces.

_What?_ Gale was puffing from the tussle, but wore a look that was unphased. _He was rude._


End file.
